Personal pronouns: indirect object - Easy Learning Grammar Spanish

What is an indirect object pronoun?An indirect object pronoun is used instead of a noun to show the person or thing an action is intended to benefit or harm, for example, me in He gavemea book.; Can you getmea towel?; He wrote tome.

1Using indirect object pronouns

It is important to understand the difference between direct and indirect object pronouns in English, as they can have different forms in Spanish.

You can usually test whether an object is a direct object or an indirect one by asking questions about the action using what and who:

an indirect object answers the question who ... to? or who ... for?, equally what ... to? or what ... for?

He gave me a book. → Who did he give the book to? → me(=indirect object pronoun)

Can you get me a towel? → Who can you get a towel for? → me(=indirect object pronoun)

We got some varnish for it. → What did you get the varnish for? → it(=indirect object pronoun)

if something answers the question what or who, then it is the direct object and NOT the indirect object.

He gave me a book. → What did he give me? → a book(=direct object)

I saw Mandy. → Who did you see? → Mandy(=direct object)

We got some varnish for it. → What did you get? → some varnish(=direct object)

Note that a verb won’t necessarily have both a direct and an indirect object.

Here are the Spanish indirect object pronouns:

Singular

Meaning

Plural

Meaning

me

me, to me, for me

nos

us, to us, for us

te

you, to you, for you (relating totú)

os

you, to you, for you (relating tovosotros/vosotras)

le

him, to him, for him her, to her, for her it, to it, for it you, to you, for you (relating tousted)

les

them, to them, for them you, to you, for you (relating toustedes)

The pronouns shown in the table are used instead of using the preposition a with a noun.

In orders and instructions telling someone NOT TO DO something, the pronoun does not join onto the end of the verb.

Nomedigas la respuesta.

Don’t tell me the answer.

If the pronoun is the object of an infinitive (the to form of the verb) or a gerund (the -ing form of the verb), you always add the pronoun to the end of the verb to form one word, unless the infinitive or gerund follows another verb. Again, you may have to add a written accent to preserve the stress.

Eso de darletu dirección no fue muy prudente.

It wasn’t very wise to give him your address.

Gritándoletanto lo vas a asustar.

You’ll frighten him by shouting at him like that.

Where an infinitive or gerund follows another verb, you can put the pronoun either at the end of the infinitive or gerund, or before the other verb.